Mother
by oreocheesecakes
Summary: Katara experiences the joys and fears of motherhood for the first time. A late Katara Week entry following the prompts "Family" and "Hugs." Oneshot.


**A/N: Basically a late Katara Week entry. It follows the prompts Family and Hugs (though it was initially prompted by Sacrifice idk what happened).**

**Most of the Katara Week entried I saw were Zutara ones, so I decided to go write a Kataang one :)**

**I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender.**

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><p>"It's a boy," the healer declared, her voice rising above the cries that filled the room.<p>

Fighting the exhaustion and relief that threatened to pull her to sleep, Katara craned her neck to get a glimpse of what she had been carrying inside of her for nine months. Her vision was a bit blurry, but she could register a wriggling blue bundle being placed in her husband's shaking arms.

A rush of petty annoyance passed through her. After all that unbearable pain she had just gone through, Aang had the right to hold him first?

But seeing the way his face lit up with pure joy, the tender look in his eyes as he had his first glimpse at their child—it melted all her ill feelings away. He was just as much his son as hers, after all, and any pain in the world was worth it if it would give him that glow of happiness that surrounded him at that moment.

However, though it tamed her irritation, his elation also fueled her impatience. "Can I hold him?" she asked hoarsely after the healer had exited the room, reminding her husband that she was waiting for her turn.

"Of course," Aang said, chuckling as he walked over to her. "He's beautiful, Katara." He relinquished the bawling baby into her outstretched arms.

The newborn seemed to be a perfect mix of their skin tones—he was paler than Katara but darker than Aang. Tufts of dark hair crowned his little head, and his eyes were squeezed shut as he squirmed helplessly, his tear-streaked face red from crying.

Maternal instinct immediately took over her, and she cradled him closer to her chest, murmuring soothing nothings to him.

The child slowly relaxed at her voice, and it wasn't long before his sobs had downscaled into whimpers. Seeming to sense his mother, the boy started to coo instead, and when he graced her with an adoring look, she let out a gasp—his eyes were exactly like his father's. Innocent, sincere, and able to capture her heart in a glance.

It was a while before she was able to speak again. "He has your eyes," she finally managed to say.

"Hm." Aang nodded. "But that smile is definitely yours, Katara."

She shook her head. Aang would see what he wanted to see, but she was pretty sure that the toothless grin on their firstborn was that of a penguin sledder.

"You know, you're pretty good at this," the Avatar remarked. "I'm pretty sure I can't calm a baby that fast."

"Well, I _am_ a mother." She paused. "Wait, spirits, I'm a _mother_," she repeated, her eyes widening in realization as she looked up at her husband. "You're a dad, Aang, and I'm a mom. We have a precious baby, and we're parents," she said, beaming.

"It would seem so," Aang said, laughing lightly at her epiphany.

She turned back at her son in wonder. _So this is what it feels like,_ she thought. She had held her child but once, and already a surge of overwhelming love and devotion had filled her. All of a sudden, she had been given another reason to live, another purpose—and she knew without a doubt that she would sacrifice anything for her little one.

"I finally understand," she whispered.

Katara felt the bed shake a little as Aang sat on the edge. "Understand what?" He started to smooth back her hair, and while she had considered being embarrassed of how sweaty she was from labor, she realized that she was too tired and the gesture was too relaxing for her to even care.

She leaned back into her pillow, enjoying the comforting feel of his strong fingers as she explained. "My mom dying for me. I mean, I always knew she did it because she loved me, but now I finally understand that there really was no other option for her." She sighed, gazing once more into the carbon copy of her favorite pair of gray eyes. "When you're a parent, your child is everything. If I had to give my life for him, Aang, I would in a heartbeat."

"I know exactly what you mean," he murmured, wrapping an arm around her. "But don't think like that, Katara. Bumi and I would be completely lost without you."

She blinked, pulling back to look at him. "Bumi?"

Aang's gaze dropped down to the white sheets underneath them. "It was the first name that came to me. We can pick another one if you like—"

"It's perfect," she assured him, shifting her position so she could hold Bumi with one hand and guide Aang's eyes to hers with the other. "I know how much you miss your friend."

The Avatar smiled at her, both grateful and sad. "He'd already been given more years than most, anyway. And besides, it was a life well-lived."

Katara nodded in agreement, and a comfortable silence soon ensued between them after. Aang seemed to be lost in thought, so the waterbender turned back to their son, gently rocking him and humming an old Water Tribe lullaby. Bumi's little eyelids fluttered for a bit, and before long, he was fast asleep.

"When we have a daughter—" Katara looked up. "—we should name her Kya," Aang said quietly, careful not to wake the baby.

She couldn't stop the small, touched smile that came to her mouth. "I'd love that," she said. "But let's try to handle one child first, Aang."

He pulled on that signature goofy grin of his that she loved. "I don't see why we wouldn't."

Katara rolled her eyes. "There are actually a lot of reasons. I mean first of all, I really don't think raising an airbender is going to be a walk in the park."

Aang's joking expression immediately turned serious, charged with hope. "You think—" He cleared his throat."You think he's an airbender?"

It hurt Katara to see just how much Aang wanted for his words to be true. "I hope he is. I mean, he's got your eyes, right?"

His face fell ever so slightly at the unsureness in her voice, but the corner of his mouth pulled up in a half-smile. "Yeah. But . . . it's all right if he isn't, Katara. It wouldn't make me love him any less."

"Of course it wouldn't. You're going to spoil this kid rotten, Aang, and we both know it," she said, smirking affectionately at him.

"Ah, but that's why you're going to be there to keep us all in check," he said, grinning. "You're going to balance everything and keep our family together through everything that comes our way."

"That's quite a lot of faith you have in me," she remarked, raising an eyebrow. "This is my first time being a mom, you know." Her voice shook towards the end; only then had the full magnitude of her new title hit her.

Aang planted a reassuring kiss on her forehead. "You're going to be a great mother, Katara, and that's because you always have been. Everyone knows you're basically the mom of Team Avatar, and taking care of such a ragtag group is no easy feat. I'm sure Bumi's going to adore his mom just as you do yours."

Tears sprang to her eyes—she held her mother in such high regard that to Katara, being compared to her was one of the greatest compliments she could ever hope to receive. "Thanks, Aang. I guess I'm just a bit . . . scared," she admitted.

His eyebrows furrowed, concerned. "Of what?"

She sighed. "Lots of things. Losing him, for example." She looked down at Bumi's serene, sleeping face, feeling a sharp stab of pain at the mere thought of him being taken away from her.

"That's not going to happen." Aang's voice had a rare hard edge to it. "If it comes down to it, we're going to die protecting him, Katara."

She brought her anguished gaze up to her husband. "That's another thing I'm scared of, Aang. What if something happens to us and Bumi's left by himself?"

"Katara—" he started, but she shook her head, brushing her fingers on the old Water Tribe necklace that was always around her neck.

"Mom gave herself up, and while I know she did it so that I could live, the pain of losing her never really fades away." She looked up into his argentine eyes, pleading in a hushed tone. "We have to do our best to make sure none of our kids ever have to know how it feels to grow up without either or both of us, Aang. We can't be careless, we need to give them the childhood we never had, we—"

Aang stopped her lips with a kiss, taking care not to jostle the sleeping infant between them. "You and I will do everything in our power to ensure that, Katara. Avatar's promise."

There was always an unusual seriousness in his eyes when he said those two words, and Katara couldn't doubt him if she tried. Neither of them would ever allow their family to be torn apart; they would never let Bumi nor their future children feel the pain of having a parent cruelly taken away, the pain that both of them had carried for most of their lives.

"Thanks, Aang," she murmured, leaning into his chest. She felt his arms instinctively encircle both her and the baby, and with him holding their little family together, a sense of warmth and security filled her entire being—a rare occurrence for the waterbender who worried so much about everyone.

Relaxing in both his embrace and the warmth that radiated from the two people she cherished the most in the world, she slowly drifted off into a sound sleep.

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><p><strong>Constructive criticismcomments are always much appreciated! :)**


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